Monday 14 November 2016

Plans for gaming the Cold War in 15mm

I am the supreme example of a wargames butterfly.  I fly from period to period with the attention span of a confused goldfish, although there is one exception to this. 

The so-called Cold War has always been of interest to me, probably because I grew up through it. I started off with a lot of 1/300th forces and played with Modern Spearhead. Then I got diverted into skirmish gaming and got some Cold War figures in 28mm. Now with the widespread availability of 15mm models I am again spending money on 1980s period figures. In my defence I have stayed on one period and I can reuse all my existing 15mm WW2 scenery. ;)

So, I am sorting out a mixed bag of forces, I got British in the Armies Army kickstarter and have recently picked up a lot of Soviet stuff second hand. I have also bought some Battlefront Germans as well. My aim is to have a reinforced platoon for each of the British and German forces while the Soviet forces will end up at company strength. Below is a brief idea of the force structures I am going for, any comments on mistakes would be much appreciated. I have used the old WRG army list books as a guide to what is required. These lists do things by groups so I have had to guess what is in the group in some cases.










    British Mech Infantry Platoon
       Platoon HQ with 1 Fv432, 1 command group and 1 light mortar group
       3 sections each with 1 Fv432, 2 rifle groups, 1 LMG and 1 MAW
I have translated this into the following
HQ – 1 Fv432, 1 CO, 1 SNCO, 1 RTO and 1 light mortar man.
Sections – 1 Fv432, 1 NCO, 1 LMG with 2 crew, 1 MAW gunner, 4 riflemen.
Support wise I have the following
A tank platoon of 3 Chieftains (I may get 1 more as they could be 3 or 4 strong)
AT section of 2 Milan teams (1 additional Fv432 needed)
AA section of 2 Javelin teams in a Spartan
SFMG team to be carried in the command Fv432 if needed
   









     German Heimschutzkommando Platoon
       Platoon HQ with 1 M113 or Marder, 1 command group, 1 LMG and 1 Milan
       2 squads each with 1 M113 or Marder, 1 rifle group, 1 LMG and 1 MAW
Translated into
HQ – 1 M113, 1 CO, 1 RTO, 1 LMG with 2 crew and 1 Milan with 2 crew
Squads – 1 M113, 1 NCO, 1 LMG with 2 crew, 1 MAW gunner and 3 riflemen
Support
A Panzer platoon with 3 Leopard 1
AT section of 4 Jagpanzer Kannone
AA section of 1 Redeye team attached to PHQ
I will also get some Marders to give me the option of "upgrading" them to regulars.

 








    3 Soviet BMP Platoons each with
       Platoon HQ with 1 BMP, 1 command group, 1 rifle group and 1 LMG
       2 squads each with 1 BMP, 1 rifle group, 1 infantry group and 1 LMG
Turns into 3 platoons each with
HQ – 1 BMP, 1 CO, 1 NCO, 1 SAW, 1 RPG, 4 riflemen
Squad 1 – 1 BMP, 1 SNCO, 1 NCO, 1 SAW, 1 RPG, 4 riflemen
Squad 2 – 1 BMP, 1 LMG with 2 crew, 1 NCO, 1 SAW, 1 RPG, 4 riflemen
Support
2 Tank Platoons each with 4 T-72/80.
1 AA section of 1 SA-7 team in 1 BMP

There are a few other options I am considering getting, some recce vehicles for each force are a prime example, but that's the plan for now. Just need to get on with painting it all after Christmas. And find a set of rules for it, current options are FEBA, Force on Force and Sabre Squadron.  Decisions decisions.


5 comments:

  1. Have a look at No End in Sight or Fivecore Company Command from Nordic Weasel...might be just right for this?

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  2. You forgot to mention that you have led me astray as well, and made me by some Germans, and convert my planned Israeli force into German/Dutch force!!

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    Replies
    1. I didn't have to lead you, it was more a sensible redirection of your aimless charge in post WW2 gaming. Now, how about getting some French too? ;)

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  3. Looks like you are off to a good start. I am tempted to do Canadians for the period.

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